Customer Reviews

Moon Over Lake Elmo

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The diary style used in this book is not new. Other good books have been diaries and the relationship between the three main characters gives the reader something to think about. Several reviewers mentioned problems with the shift in times and characters but that is the way real life is. We all experience memories and thoughts of the future while experiencing the present. Steve Thayer helps the reader out by using different fonts for each character. This is a short novel that weaves the stories of three lives and how they intertwine. It also raises issues that are of importance. It is hard to tell a good story in 150 pages, but this author does it. As for missing details, I feel that is for the reader to fill in. A willingness to create a relationship with this novel rather than to simply read the words is a key part of the experience. The author invites the reader to think and connect the dots. I liked that!

Lake Elmo is a place of solace for me, so when I saw this book, I had to pick it up. I live about 15 minutes from there and go walking and running at the Lake Elmo park reserve. The book struck a nerve in me because Steve's dad grew up in northern Wisconsin not too far from where I did, and I have always been fascinated with life during and post WWII. These diaries/letter were from three extremely different people, but yet, they were all so similar. The diaries talked of happy times in the past, the current dread they were going through, and the hope for a better future. Just to read some of those passages broke my heart. I wish my grandparents had kept a diary so I could know what they've been through. I did wish for more, though. I wanted to know more and more about these people, but there's only so much you can do with a journal. You can't go back and find out more if the person is dead. Anyway, a very good book, and if you live in St. Paul or are from NW Wisconsin, there are a lot of areas and landmarks mentioned!

I agree with Publisher's Weekly review's opinion that the format of the book does not allow Steve Thayer to write in the more exciting way he usually does, but because it is made of letters & diary entries the reader enjoys a more intimate view of each character's feelings and thoughts. That alone, in my opionion, makes up for the relatively basic form of writing used in the book because the story is a very personal documentation of problems within a family, hence better insight is more valuable. I also agree that Thayer did an exceptional job of making some of the more dramatic scenes come to life, like the grandmother's beating of Angela, and the climax of the book when the father and daughter are reunited. While this book may not be a typical Steve Thayer "thriller", it certainly shows that he posesses a great deal of versatility as an author.

Moon Over Lake Elmo is a novel that you have to read very carefully to fully appreciate it's contents. The book is not written in a sequence of events or narrated, it is composed of letters written from the main character to his daughter and of journal entries varying in dates from the 1950's to the 1990's. I think Steve Thayer does a good job of portraying an American family and all the problems they go through in fairly good detail. Millions of Americans come from broken homes as divorce is no longer as uncommon as it was in past times, so many readers can relate to these types of problems with relative ease. The fact that the book is written out of journal entries & letters gives the reader a very personal insight into what someone might go through in such a situation. It is a good read, in my opinion, and I would reccomend it.

Moon over Lake Elmo in my opinion was not a book I would ever read again. The part where it's all diary page's is what did not impress me. When it jump's from different character's so quickly in a way confused me. You also as a reader had to figure out which character played what part in the book. It would of been a good book if they had made it some what like a story instead of diary pages. For those reason's I rate this book a 1.

Moon over lake elmo was a series of letters going through time and generations. Although placed sparatically throughout the book they told the story carefully and beautifully. It showed the difficulty with life. Surprisingly it didn't focus on the inter racial relationship too much. But it did show how violence and abuse can affect one's mind. Overall the book was very good.

I agree with the publisher's weekly's review. The book did lack details. But it made up with the realism that can come with using letters as a medium for communication. By reading these letters and journals we can get a sense of what these characters think. I like how this book was written.

To put it plainly, this book [was bad]. I didn't like the fact that you (the reader) would jump from character to character. The other thing that [I didn't like] was the fact that the man couldn't spell. One of the major things that "angered" me was the fact that it was so long. It was like a ... novel. Who writes 150 page books anyways?

"The Moon Over Lake Elmo" Was an ok book. The book is really confusing with all the different letters and entrys. You really dont get the book until you read to the end. At first i thought the book was really boring and it confused me, but when i read the rest of it, it all made sense. Steve Thayer is a smart writer and you could tell he really researches his stuff. Therefore the book starts really bad but ends tieing it all together...

the review taht i read "family healing" really hit the button. i couldnt have said it better my self. really it is a great book. and if you really think about it, it is about a fathers love for his daughter.

i really liked the book moon over lake elmo. it goes into description of her life 1992, her fathers life from the time penny died till '92, and her grandfathers life in 1955. i enjoyed the diary entries from angela and her grandfather. the letters that steve wrote to angela were in full detail on how him and penny met, and what was going on in his life after penny died. it was kinda sad that her father left her with nana and how he didnt take her. over all the book is really good i couldnt put it down. if i had a choice i would read it again and i would request it to anyone!!!